Bottomless box and balloon trawl net, including front netting and adjustably connected trawl board



2,618,879 INCLUDING FRONT NETTING AND ADJUSTABLY CONNECTED TRAWL BOARD Filed Nov. 27, 1950 NOV- 25, 1952 G. c. I -Ewls BOTTOMLESS BOX AND BALLOON TRAWL NET,

3 Sheets-Sheet l Guy a elett/girafe BY g Hmm G. C. LEWIS 9 7 w M, 1.. mm r 2O .M R e F h W S L 3 D U L C N I Nov. 25, 1952 BOTTOMLESS BOX AND BALLOON TRAWL. NET, NETTING AND ADJUSTABLY CONNECTED TRAWL BOARD Filed NOV 27, 1950 QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ QQQQQQQQQQQ QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQAQQQ G. C. LEWIS Nov. 25, 1952 C 618,879 BOTTOMLESS BOX AND BALLOON TRAWL NET, INCLUDING FRONT NETTING AND ADJUSTABLY CONNECTED TRAWL BOARD Filed NOV. 27, 1950 Guy G. Lew/'s 1N V EN TOR.

Attorneys Patented Nov. 25, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOTTOIVILESS BOX AND BALLOON TRAWL NET, INCLUDING FRONT NETTING AND ADJUSTABLY CONNECTED TRAWL BOARD Guy C. Lewis, New Orleans, La.

Application November 27, 1950, Serial No. 197,668

(Cl. l13--9) 1 Claim. l

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in shrimp-trawling devices and the primary object of the present invention is to provide a trawl net that is so constructed as to permit the same to be employed as a box or balloon trawl net for shrimp or iish.

Another very important object of the present invention is to provide a bottcmless box and balloon net having a front netting at its mouth that will prevent relatively large shrimp from passing therethrough so that as the ground chain of the trawl gear, behind the front netting, contacts the shrimp they will be restricted from passing through the front netting although the mesh of the netting will permit small and young shrimp to escape from the net.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a net of the aforementioned character wherein the front netting will permit one-third to one-half more shrimp to be caught than was heretofore possible with a net of the same size lacking the front netting.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bottomless box and balloon net whose mouth supports a front netting that will prevent the escape of relatively large shrimp and which will increase day shrimp trawling in clear water such as the Gulf of Mexico.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a trawling gear that will increase the net haul to a maximum and which will reduce to a minimum the maintenance of trawl gear to the beneiit of boat owners.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a bottomless box and balloon net including a pair of adjustably connected trawl boards at the mouth of the net whereby the mouth of the net may be varied as to height and width depending upon the depth of water in which the same is pulled.

A still further aim of the present invention is to provide a shrimp trawl gear of the aforementioned character including a pair of side walls of uniform width throughout their length whose rear ends are attached to a rear pocket and reinforcing cables extending throughout the length of the side walls and supporting weights and corks in accordance with the depth of water in which the gear is disposed.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the present trawl gear and with parts of the upper wall or covering of the bottomless net broken away;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of Figure 1 and showing the front netting lowered and very little arch to the net mouth;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the front netting raised and the trawl board connecting cable adjusted to permit the height of the net mouth to be increased to the arch shown in this View;

Figure 4 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially on the plane of section line lI-ll of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially on the plane of section line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a perspective View of one front corner of the trawl net and showing the front ilap or netting lowered;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of one of the trawl boards used in the present invention; and,

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of rear pocket of the trawl net and showing the pocket open.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose of illustration, there is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the numeral I0 represents a bottomless, combination box and balloon net having a rearwardly and inwardly tapering upper wall or covering I2 and a pair of rearwardly converging side walls or curtains I4.

The rear ends of the side walls I4 and the rear end of the upper wall I2 are joined and a bottom wall I6 is joined with the lower rear ends of the side walls to form a rear pocket I8 that is normally held closed by a releasable means, such as a tie cable 20 that extends through eyes I9 suitably attached to the pocket, as well known in the prior art. The forward portion of pocket I8 has additional eyes 19a suitably attached thereto which are adapted to form attaching means for cables (not shown) that may be employed for lifting the pocket.

Upper reinforcing cables 22 join the upper rear edges of the side walls I4 to the rear side edges of the upper wall I2 and an additional pair of lower reinforcing cables 24 join the side edges of the bottom wall I6 with the lower rear edges of the side walls I4. The side walls I4 are uniform in height throughout their length whereby the device will constitute a box net, later to be more fully described.

The lower edges of the side walls I4 support longitudinal reinforcing cables 26 and the upper edges of the side walls are joined with the side edges of the upper wall' I2 by further reinforcing cables 28. The cables 26 and 28 extend from the mouth or forward end of the net to the pocket and form portions of cables 22, 24. The cables 26 and 28 support leads 3| and corks 33, respectively, to retain the sidewalls extended.

A front netting or flap 38 is attached at its upper edge to a transverse cork-supporting cable 34 secured to the forward edge of the upper wall I2 and the forward ends of the side.` walls.. I4, as shown best in Figure 6 of the drawings and carries suitable corks 33a. The marginal edges of the netting 3D are reinforced by cables 36 and the lower corners of the netting 30 support tie cables A pair of trawl-boards or side wings 40 form part of the trawling gear and these boards are substantially rectangular and have their lower edges suitably fixed in channels 42. The rear edges'44 of the boards 40 support upper and lower anchoring eyes 46 and 48. Additional anchoring eyes 50 project laterally from the rear ends of the boards 4I) adjacent the lower edges thereof.

The forward ends of the cables 25 extend forwardly of the sidewalls I4 and are anchored or tied to `the lower eyes 48 of the trawl boards 4U. The forwardly extending ends of the upper cables 28 are tied to the upper eyes 4G of the trawl boards 49. The trawl-boards 48 are adjustably connected through the medium of a stay line or cable 52 whose ends are tied lto the anchoring eyes 50 whereby the trawl-boards will be spaced apart a predetermined distance to vary the height and width of the net mouth as the gear is pulled through the, water.

Means is provided for attaching the trawlboards to a towing boat or boats and this means consists of two tow lines 54 whose rear ends support rings 56. The rings 56 are secured to the boards 48 by chains 58.

The use of trawl-boards, such as 4G, with trawl gear is well known and the trawl-boards slope downwardly and inwardly as well as rearwardly and inwardly so that as the gear is pulled through the water the trawl-boards will be urged apart and against the waters bottom. Since the cable 52. is adjustably secured to the trawl-boards 48, a predetermined slack will be provided in the cable 34 permitting arching of the net mouth as the net is pulled through the water.

The tie cables 38 are tied to the forward ends of the cables 26 or to the anchoring eyes 48 to retain the netting 3i) lowered. The netting 38 and the side walls or curtains I4 are equal in height to the height of the trawl-boards to permit the net to be retained in the form of a box net for shrimp trawling as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings.

When trawling for fish, the distance between the trawl-boards 43 is reduced so that the forward end of the net and more specifically the upper wall I2 will arch as shown in Figure 3, and the netting 38 is raised and tied to the net..

The ends of a ground chain 60 are secured to the lower anchoring eyes 48 and the chain 60 extends rearwardly past the front netting 30 and is located between the side walls I4.

In practical use of the present gear as a boxnet, the front netting or drop net 3U is lowered and the trawl-boards spaced apart substantially the length of the cable 34. As the gear is drawn by a boat or boats, the netting 30 will pass over the shrimp and the ground chain 60 will contact the shrimp whereupon the shrimp will tend to swim forwardly past the mouth of the net. However,A the front netting 30 will prevent the shrimp from escaping and the shrimp will eventually enter the rear pocket or bag I8.

The front netting will permit the net to trap between one-third to one-half more shrimp than was heretofore possible with shrimp nets void of the front netting. Furthermore, the mesh of the front netting is such as to permit small or young shrimp to escape and to prevent certain species of fish. from entering the net.

The net I will have twenty-rive per cent stretchrtending to keep the side wings or trawlboards pulled down to bottom instead of lifting them from the bottom. The sides of the net are leaded in accordance with the depth of the water and the mesh of the net varies with the size shrimp to be trapped. Since the side walls are of uniformheight throughout their length,` the cables 26 will remain lowered againstthe water bottom.

For use of the gear as a fish trawling device, the boards 40 are adjusted toward each other, see Figure 3, to permit arching of the net mouth and the netting 30 is raised. l

The advantages of a bottomless balloon net are well known-to those skilled in this art. However, this invention provides not only af bottomless balloon net but also a bottomless box net due to the adjustable connection between the boards 48. Also, the addition ofthe frontnetting to the box and balloon net is another outstanding feature of the present trawl gear.

Having vdescribed the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a trawling gear, a bottomless box and balloon net having an upper wall, a rear pocket and a pai-r of rearwardly converging side walls connected to the rear pocket, a pair of trawl-boards, a cable atta-cned to the forward ends of said sidewalls and the forward end of said upper wall, said cable being attached to said trawl-boards, a lower cable joined to the lower adjacent ends of the trawl-boards and the lower boundaries ofthe net wall andprovided with weights spaced at short intervals throughout the lengt-h of the cable for causing the bottom of the side walls to assume acontour corresponding to the contour ofthe surface over which the side` walls of the net rides, aconnecting cable extending between and adjustably secured toy the. trawl-boards.- to varyA the distance between the trawl-boards and permit the forward end of the net to be spread to a predetermined height and width, an elongated front netting terminally attached to the forward ends of said side walls and attached at its upper portion to the first named cable to prevent. the escape of shrimp over which the front netting passes, and a ground chainV terminally attached to said trawl-boards and extending be tween said side walls rearwardly of said front netting, said ground chain being connected directly to the adjacent ends of a trawl-board and .having the entire portion thereof between the trawl-boards oonned Iat the rear of the front netting and between the side Walls, the ground chain being adapted to disturb shrimp to `cause movement thereof, and the side Walls due to their close :Contact with the ground conning the shrimp in movement at all times in the limits of the net structure thereby facilitating movement yof the shrimp toward the rear pocket for trapping therein.

GUY C. LEWIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

Number Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Cheting July 14, 1914 De Voegt et al Aug. 4, 1925 Mudge Sept. 21, 1926 Hansen et el. Nov. 27, 1928 Enright Jan. 28, 1930 Miller Jan. 7, 1947 Guthrie et e1 June 13, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain 1894 France Nov. 2, 1935 

